Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1974, Review)
aka They Call Her One Eye
aka Hooker’s Revenge
Director: Bo Arne Vibenius
Cast: Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf, Solveig Andersson, Per-Axel Arosenius, Björn Kristiansson
Synapse Films / Color / NTSC R1 / Unrated / Widescreen 1.78:1 (Anamorphic) / ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono & SWEDISH: Dolby Digital Mono / Subtitles: English / 107 mins / PURCHASE
Poor Frigga (Lindberg). A little girl raped in the park by an old, dirty homeless man. Now mute due to the awful attack, she’s a teenager being raised on a farm by her over-protective but very loving parents. One day while trying to catch the bus on her way to the psychologist, she is picked up by Tony (Hopf) who gives her a ride. But instead of taking her to the doctor, he has other more disgusting things in mind for naive little Frigga.
He wines her and dines her and home for a little nightcap. His nefarious plans start to become apparent as he drugs her and keeps her shot up with heroin for days until she is fully hooked and dependent on Tony for her fix. Tony also sends a fake letter from Frigga home to her parents that says how much she hates them so that they won’t come looking for her. In order to get her fix, she must first whore herself out to an assorted lot of despicable “johns”. But her first client doesn’t work out too well. She freaks out and rakes him across the face with her nails and bloodies him. Pimp Tony isn’t having any of this nonsense and he quickly doles out punishment in the form of gouging out her eye. A man’s gotta keep his pimp hand strong. Am I right?
She falls in line and befriends Sally, a fellow junkie whore who tells her about how she tried to escape only to return because of the addiction to the heroin. But Sally has a plan. Charge the “johns” a little extra and save money so she can run away to Switzerland where she will get treatment. The two become close and Sally intercepts a letter from Frigga’s mother telling how her letter hurt them very much but if she ever came back, she would be welcomed. So she goes home to see them and finds that they have both committed suicide due to her “running away”.
This revelation sets in motion Frigga’s own plan to save money and exact her revenge on the people who have wronged her. She begins to train in hand-to-hand combat, driving, and weapons all the while still being victimized by Tony and her clients. She then finds that Sally has been murdered by Tony and that is the last straw. She will have her bloody retribution.
She soon finds out that all this retaliation business isn’t so easy. She begins with offing her “regulars” and Tony gets word. He calls in some killers of his own to take out his amuck whore. But they are no match for Frigga’s bloodthirsty, leather-clad badassedness. So instead of using brawn, she tricks Pimp-daddy Tony into meeting her for a showdown. Will he sweet talk her into re-thinking her hostility and joining him? Or will she fuck him up in a way that you have never witnessed? It’s a revenge flick, you figure it out.
This is my second time watching this movie. The first time was last year I think. I loved it so much more this time. I knew what to expect and was able to really watch without being too amazed at what I was seeing. The crazy and sometimes illogical plot is never boring and is beautiful to watch. Lindberg is wonderful as the baby-faced badass and director Vibenius knows just how to shoot her to make her exquisite and dangerous. I also love the fact that her eye patch changed colors according to her frame of mind. Pink in the beginning; her virgin naivety. Red; being a whore and junky. And finally black; the color of death. Hopf is also great as one of the slimiest bad guys ever. He is uber-creepy.
The action shots are in slow-motion and I didn’t like it the first time but seeing them again, I thought they brought a surreal aspect to the movie that shows her mental state and emotions. The most notorious thing about this edition is the hardcore sex inserts – that are not Lindberg, by the way – and I still think they are gross and very jarring in the context they are used. One minute she’s training karate. The next, huge balls are smacking against her asshole. Very unsexy stuff. The other notorious thing would be the eye cutting scene that was rumored to be a real cadaver. I don’t know if it’s true, but either way it’s hard to watch. Think Fulci’s famous eye gouging scene from Zombie only with a scalpel.
If you call yourself a fan of exploitation or wish you were around during the old 42nd Street grindhouse days, buy this Synapse DVD and cherish it as I do.
